Workplace sexual harassment is common

TOBAGO House of Assembly (THA) Secretary of Community Development, Enterprise Development and Labour, Marslyn Melville-Jack says that sexual harassment in the Tobago workplace is very common.

She made this sobering observation while speaking last Friday at the Tobago National Stakeholder Consultation on the Draft National Workplace Policy on Sexual Harassment at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort.

She said the common practice of sexual harassment being trivialized and rarely taken seriously must end and such cases should be appropriately investigated.

“There still exist a level of social complacency within our culture which trivialises sexual harassment as long as there is no violence or physical contact and it seems to have become accepted as the norm.

"In many instances, sexual harassment seems to be part and parcel of our daily lives, victims don’t report it, observers don’t intervene and in some cases the police do not take it seriously. Disclosure can be very stressful and sometimes it may only result in rehashing the pain and reopening the scars of a humiliating experience,” Melville-Jack said.

The secretary said that now is the time to ride the wave of global attention on this issue, which she said has been an ignored reality for women in particular over the years.

“This consultation seeks to examine the role that sexual harassment plays in the workplace and its devastating impact on the life of victims, their families and the resultant lack of productivity in our workspaces.

"We also seek to ratify and offer recommendations for the final drafting and submission of the National Sexual Harassment policy which must address both genders, and which must restore confidence in the victims and promote ethical behaviours among employers and employees in their daily interactions,” she said.

The consultation was second leg of a National Stakeholder Consultation with the first being held on June 1 in Trinidad.